Faith Isn’t a Work — It’s a Rest

From the CLF Empowerment Podcast interview with Bishop Darlingston Johnson at the 2024 CLF World Conference in Houston

How did you first receive your calling?

You know, I’m one of those who have been blessed that I cannot explain other than the fact that from the time I was a child—six, seven, eight years old—I had this desire to do what I’m doing. My mother was a praying woman. I got exposed to some ministry, but a seed was planted in my heart as a child. I received Christ as my Savior as a child and had this desire, felt called to this, as a child. And so I’ve walked this path to where I am since I was a child.

I was a pretty good student in school, and so my teachers wanted me to be a doctor. My mother wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer, and they couldn’t understand why I would want to be a preacher or pastor—especially back then, they didn’t have much respect for that office. But that desire was in my heart and never left me. So I pursued that until here I am today.

What inspired your empowerment talk on Faith Upgrade 101?

As a pastor now, and having had my own faith journey, I realized that faith is extremely critical to our walk. The just shall live by faith. God blesses us by grace—grace is completely understandable and unmerited—but we have to receive that grace by faith. We have to believe in it and walk in it.

Faith is critical, and faith is supposed to be easy. But for a lot of people, faith is a struggle. I know in my own journey, at some point I turned faith into a work. It was something I had to do. I had to believe. Instead of being a rest, it became another law I had to try to achieve. That brought condemnation and guilt because I wasn’t walking in perfect faith—believing perfectly all the time and never doubting. That caused me, for a year, to go through a period of sadness, even some depression.

During that time, I believe the Holy Spirit began to open my eyes, and I started to see different things about faith. When I came into a fuller revelation of the gospel of grace and what it means to me, my faith went to another level. It went from something I had to do—something I had to work up, something I had to meet a standard for—to simply my response to God’s grace. My acknowledging, agreeing with, and accepting.

And so I entered into a rest, and the rest is history. I’ve seen God working out His plan and purposes as I continue to respond to His grace from a place of confidence and rest, where I didn’t have to make anything happen. Before, I thought I had to make God move with my faith. Now I realize, no—faith is not about making God move. He’s already moved. Faith is moving me to accept what God has already done.

I’ve practically seen the difference in my walk, and I know there are many who struggle. So I wanted to share some of the things God has shown me over the years that have helped me experience faith more as a rest than as a struggle.

Was there a moment when you realized you were understanding faith incorrectly?

For me, it was when I got a fuller revelation of what it means to be saved by grace. For a long time we said we were saved by grace, but there was always that little performance part—“We’re saved by grace, but you’ve got to do this, and you’ve got to do that.” You’ve got to always confess your sins, because every time you sin your fellowship with God is broken, and until you confess your sin, it’s not forgiven.

But when my eyes were opened—particularly to 1 John 1:9—I realized John was not providing instructions to the born-again child of God about what they must do every time they sin to get forgiveness. Reading the context, I realized there were two groups of people in 1 John: the group having fellowship with God, and another group not having fellowship with God.

John wrote because he wanted those not having fellowship with the Father and the Son to become part of those who were. Those folks were Gnostics who denied the incarnation and didn’t believe in sin as transgression of the law. They were among the believers, just like today—New Agers, people with strange ideas of what following Jesus means.

John told them: “Stop saying you have no sin. If you keep saying that, the truth is not in you. But if you confess—agree—that you have sin and need a Savior, He is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse.” Once I understood that, I realized God is not imputing my sins to me. He did it once and for all. When I received Christ, my sins were all forgiven.

All of a sudden, the idea that I had to meet all these conditions for God to bless me and that I had to come up with perfect faith didn’t make sense anymore. Then my eyes started to open to many passages that, before, because of the “law and performance” lens, I didn’t understand. It was always “one more thing to do.” But once I got that revelation, it wasn’t one more thing to do—it was just another thing to accept.

How has your church planted over 450 churches, schools, and ministries?

I’m originally from Liberia. After graduating from Oral Roberts University, I returned to Liberia where I was pastoring and the church was growing. I came to the States to attend a conference—similar to CLF—in New Jersey, intending to be here only six weeks. Then Liberia was plunged into civil war, and my wife and I were stranded in Maryland with two suitcases. We couldn’t return.

We sought God. I felt Him saying, “Don’t be a refugee. Be a missionary. Do what you were doing in Liberia. Win the lost at all costs.” So we planted a church in Maryland.

At the same time, many of our members were scattered across Africa because of the war. They had been part of our cell groups, so they already knew how to gather people and lead Bible discussions. They started doing that in Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, and other nations—just like what happened in the early church during persecution.

God opened my eyes: “I didn’t bring you here just to pastor this church but to help facilitate this church-planting movement.” So that became part of our church culture. Our motto became: Win the lost at all costs. Make as many disciples as you possibly can in your generation.

For us, one of the best ways to do that is through local churches. So everywhere we go, we plant local churches, disciple people, teach them to win others, and multiply. Now all our churches have a vision to plant baby churches. That’s how the movement has grown.

What has your experience been at the CLF conference?

This is my third CLF. What I love is the focus on Jesus and what He has done. Every time Pastor Park speaks—no matter what scripture he deals with—he points you to Christ and the work of redemption by which all our sins are forgiven. It’s foundational. And every time I hear it, it feels fresh. It builds my faith and deepens my love for Jesus.

I also get to meet people from around the world—different nations, different churches. Conversations at lunch or in the hallway are meaningful. You never know what God will do through those relationships.

And I’m blessed to be able to speak and share what God has taught me. Seeing people respond and knowing it made a difference is very rewarding.

What advice would you give to pastors and ministers?

Make sure you grasp and truly understand the gospel. It is the gospel that gives life. If we preach something other than the gospel, then to some degree the blood of those people is on our hands because we aren’t giving them the only truth that saves.

Many pastors here already believe, but many do not have a true understanding of the gospel of grace that Pastor Park is teaching. They struggle because they grew up hearing a mixture of grace and law. Not pure law, but not pure grace either. After hearing something repeatedly, you become conditioned to think that way.

It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks. When people have believed something wrong for so long, they often reject the truth when they finally hear it.

If anyone is listening: I was once where you are. I believed the mixture of grace and law was the gospel. But the difference between mixture and true grace is like night and day.

So I urge you: listen with an open mind. Don’t reject truth because it doesn’t sound like what you’ve always heard. Allow the Holy Spirit to give you a deeper revelation of the width, length, depth, and height of God’s love and grace.

Bishop Darlingston G. Johnson is the Presiding Bishop of Harvest Intercontinental Ministries Unlimited, a global organization which has planted more than 450 churches, schools, and ministries in over 25 nations catering to more than 35,000 members. He is also the Senior Pastor of Harvest Intercontinental Church—Olney. A diligent servant of God, Bishop Johnson has given his life to fulfilling the Great Commission and raising up devoted leaders and disciples who live lives of purpose and passion. He also serves as on the advisory board of CLF.

Watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/Imsmu-05G7o